Punishments
Fitting Crimes
Lest
anyone think I’m for players getting away with everything short of murder, this
week saw several disciplinary actions I’m all for. Let’s start with Baltimore Ravens’ defensive
lineman Haloti Ngata, suspended for the rest of the season after taking a
performance-enhancing drug.
It’ll
be interesting to see if there’s any legal action against Ngata, who tested
positive for Adderall, which isn’t the same as, say, cocaine. If he had a prescription and forgot to tell
the NFL, then Ngata’s just dumb. If he
obtained the drug illegally, then he’s in trouble. Separate judicial and NFL actions would be
appropriate in any such case where players break the law and try to get away with cheating.
Now, let’s move on to the case of Falcons’ safety William Moore, fined
$22,050 (an odd figure, that) for an excessive hit against Cardinals’ wide
receiver Jaron Brown.
Moore
complained, “I don’t feel like that was a [justified] fine. But I would like for us to be able to play
real football.” We should check in with
Moore ten years from now or, better yet, twenty and see what he says—if he can
say anything. Either the NFL reduces the
level of violence in the game or pro football gets eaten up by endless
liability lawsuits from ex-players, whose ranks apparently won’t include
William Moore.
Lastly,
there is the matter of Washington Nationals’ outfielder Jason Werth, who was
sentenced to ten days in jail for going in excess of 105 mile per hour on I-495
in July. Thank you, prosecutors, for not
offering a plea deal. Let Werth serve
his time and the commissioner leave him alone.
Dealing with Phillies’ fans will be punishment enough.
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